Super Bowl Sunday

As we all know, I love football (American football) and that makes today rather an important occasion, because today is when the final two teams play against each other to determine which is the ultimate team, and we all declare a champion. We call this game The Super Bowl. That might not sound like too big a deal, but trust me--it's huge. Even if the winning team is one you oppose and hate most vehemently, if they win the Super Bowl, you are obliged to give them at least a modicum of respect for their skill no matter how grudgingly you do so.

My opinion, the best football games are the ones where you have strong feelings toward the opposing teams; to really feel the passion that makes football so engaging, you need unwavering devotion for the good guys, and bitter hatred toward the opponent. With your emotional well-being hanging on every play, what seems at first a simple sport takes on new depth and--if you are very lucky indeed--your team wins in the last seconds and gives new meaning to your life. You get to experience all this passion and excitement and it feels like you're really living to your fullest even though the outside observer can only see you eating an extra 900 calories while wasting three hours sitting on the couch.

That is how I'm going to be spending this evening, after quite a lot of preparation to get there. You see, yesterday I had the question asked to me, by about everyone I know: "What are you doing for the Super Bowl?" My response was always the same: Nothing--no one's coming over this year as far as I know. I guess everyone's busy with the kids or other hobbies or they just aren't interested...

Turns out I was wrong, because half of the people that called to make inquiry yesterday have emailed and called today to say that they weren't doing anything either, so let's make something of doing nothing by doing nothing together. Fine by me. Now I plan to have seven visitors and my godson around, which has invoked a flurry of activity around the house.  I spent a couple hours early in the morning doing the usual household stuff: Running the vacuum, my least favorite chore of all time, mainly because of the ear-splitting caterwauling that comes from the Dirt Devil. (I think I'll start saving a jar of spare change to help offset the pain I know is coming because I have grand plans for buying a Dyson.) Then I tidied up the trash outside. When no one was coming over, I felt alright with it just sitting it out by the curb, but with visitors involved I decided that the one bag that couldn't fit into the garbage can had to be forced in by whatever unnatural methods I could devise. Luckily I was successful. Then I used the mop and looked around to see what I have to feed a small herd of people.

I put barbecue sauce in the Crock-Pot and put some of those little bite-size sausages in there, because everyone loves those. Then I made a layer dip with salsa, sour cream, beans, and beef and gathered up some huge bowls for tortilla chips. And I contacted Papa John's and got my pizza order in. They inform me that today is their big day, all hands are on deck, and the pizza will definitely arrive right on time just before kickoff. The local Papa John's here is awesome. I like to get their pizza more for the service than the quality of the pizza, although it is perfectly good for a chain.

That's got me all set for the most part, but some of my friends like to eat Kosher as much as possible, so I'm putting the cheese that I usually put in the dip on the side.  I now have planned a trip to the market after church to get kosher wieners for pigs in blankets, and a bag of ready made chicken wings, and that should have everyone covered. I think next year, I'll send out invitations, that way I know what to expect with more than an 8 hour notice, because to be honest, I'm so tired now that I might sleep through the first half. *wink*